


The Life of the Doll

by orphan_account



Category: Original Work
Genre: Artificial Human, Artificial Intelligence, Dolls, Dolls with Feelings, Emotional Manipulation, Mind Manipulation, Other, Sex Doll, doll making, sexual exploitation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-30
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-09-30 13:46:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17225150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Nicholas the Dollmaker is among the best dollmakers in the country - maybe even in the world - and Anii is his masterpiece.But there is more to Anii than meets the eye...





	The Life of the Doll

**Author's Note:**

> This is the back story for my RP character Anii. 
> 
> He is an artificial human, but that doesn't mean he's _that_ much like a real human... Right?

The first thing Nicholas made was Anii's face. He always started with the face when he made a new doll. He felt that a doll's soul spoke through its face and that everything else fell into place once the face was perfect.  
It had been no different with Anii.  
He was given a photograph of Lord Ashley's wife and told to work in some resemblance, without making the doll a copy of the woman.  
Nicholas honestly would not have even considered copying the woman's face even if he had not been told that, as he thought she looked withered and dull.  
No, his doll had to be perfect if it should bear Nicholas' mark.  
He molded a skull, carving out the fine details that would be part of the doll's soul. The little dent in the jawline, the soft but high cheekbones, the big, slightly hooded eye sockets... These features would serve to give him a gentle, shy and somewhat fearful expression. Something Lord Ashley admitted that he liked. He liked to think that this doll would sweeten to him and only him, that it would serve him in all the ways his wife couldn't.

Nicholas laid muscle strands, tendons and ligaments over the molded bones, slowly but surely forming a body to suit that sweet little face. Once the hull was completed it was time to assemble the organs and to finally breathe life into the doll.  
A brain was acquired, modified and embedded, as was a heart, stomach, a pair of lungs and a network of veins and arteries. Then Nicholas filled the vessels with artificially synthesized blood and decompressed the lungs. And then he waited.

It took four days for the doll's system to balance itself and start working on its own.  
It took one more day for it to wake and come to life for the very first time.

Nicholas had been waiting for hours by its side. He was ready to react to even the faintest movement, the most minute change, eager to meet his new masterpiece.

The first sign of life that came from Anii was a tiny little wince as he became aware of his body and its sensations. Nicholas had been right there to greet him.

"Hello, my sweet little doll," he had whispered, not wanting to startle the new being.  
He knew not to expect an answer. The doll had yet to learn to understand speech, to use his vocal chords and to form words with meaning before he could reasonably expect an answer.  
Anii hadn't yet figured out how to even open his eyes, but Nicholas was overjoyed anyways.  
He caressed the doll's body, teaching it to take note of these physical sensations. He taught it to enjoy gentle caresses and to dislike hits or slaps. The doll had no self preservation instinct of its own, so Nicholas had to teach it.  
He taught it to eat and drink, to feel hunger and thirst, to enjoy healthy food and to have self restraint.  
All this time the doll's eyes had remained shut. Nicholas didn't mind at all. The doll would memorize one sensation after the other and learn them one by one.  
It took two months.

When the doll's eyes opened at last, Nicholas almost wept. Of course he had known what to expect, but it always took his breath away when those eyes came to life. Glossy and curious, wide with fear but soft with excitement... It was always this moment for Nicholas, when a doll's soul fully bloomed.

It was also this moment when he chose a name for his doll.

Arthemis had been peeking into the work room every now and then, and just so happened to witness the first time her brother opened his eyes.  
"Ah... ni-" she had gasped. Nicholas had been what she meant to say, but the doll had heard her and met her eyes with a curious stare.  
"A...ni..." he had whispered, repeating what she'd said. That's how Nicholas chose his name: Anii.

It took a while for Anii to actually learn to recognize his own name and to use it as such. He would initially call both Arthemis and Nicholas 'Nii' or 'Ani', still struggling to pronounce the name at all.

After a while he began to use his own name to demand attention, to ask for food, drink or whatever else he felt he needed.

All this time he was still confined to Nicholas' workbench, as not all his organs had been placed and his legs hadn't been attached yet.

Neither Nicholas nor Arthemis minded at all, teaching him whatever they could. About Lord Ashley, his future owner, about his purpose.  
"Lord Ashley will lay you down on a bed of silk and plush, and he will fill you to the brim with his love," Nicholas explained. He always made sure to give Anii good thoughts about Lord Ashley, so that the doll will be sweet and obedient around him.  
"You will even grow round from all his love, Anii!"  
"Anii... N-ni..." the doll tried to communicate.  
"Ashley," Nicholas said, looking at Anii, "say 'Lord Ashley', my sweet doll," he encouraged gently.  
"A... Au... L...La- o... Oh..." Anii tried.  
Nicholas smiled and praised his little doll.

Anii would never forget the day that everything changed. Nicholas hadn't smiled at all, he had practically thrown his utensils on the workbench, narrowly missing Anii's newly made leg.  
Anii hadn't even flinched, too surprised to act on 'instinct' and protect himself.

Nicholas looked at Anii.  
"Fa-father...?" he said. He had learned to speak by then, but he still stuttered, the issue getting worse when he was anxious.  
"Oh, Anii," Nicholas had sighed and caressed the doll's face tenderly.  
"Lord Ashley was murdered"

A moment of silence came and went, neither of the two daring to interrupt it.

"Murdered?" Anii repeated weakly.  
"Killed. He is dead," Nicholas explained, "he won't be able to love you after all," he added softly.

Anii had struggled for a long time to understand the concept of death, but he felt like he maybe now understood it.  
Death was loss, a promise not kept, a love denied, time taken and not repaid.  
Death was the end of future, of hope and security.

Nicholas stroked Anii's cheek while he watched the doll's slowly changing expression. 

Most people would probably ask 'how?' or 'why?' but not Anii. He merely laid there on Nicholas workbench and waited for a future to claim him anew.

A new future did indeed claim him, and it was given to him by Nicholas.

Nicholas finished making Anii, a masterpiece indeed, but instead of selling his to some random second choice customer, he kept the doll.  
At first he only showed his to potential customers, letting them praise the glossy silk texture of his skin, the depth of his expressive eyes and the docile obedience of the doll, making them dream of owning a doll like him themselves.  
Rich spinsters wanted lovers, bachelors wanted wives, elders wanted grandchildren and wives wanted babies.  
But more than that many wanted Anii.

Nicholas said no every time. Anii hadn't been made for that, he deserved better, but as time went by he saw the purposeless melancholy, the depression in him and when he once ran out of money, struggling to feed himself, Arthemis and Anii after buying ridiculously expensive materials for his next doll, he caved.

A wealthy man, a politician who refused to give his name, had come to Nicholas' little shop and asked for one night with the doll.

  
  


That night Anii was laid on his back for the first time on a bed of cotton and wool, to receive the nameless man's love.

It was the first of many times.  
Anii had been alive and aware for only three years.  
Seventeen years went by.

Nicholas never allowed any one of the guests and visitors - as he called them - to come inside him, as he knew that Anii could and almost certainly would get pregnant, as that had always been his intended purpose.  
At least this much purity he wanted to preserve.

If he was truly honest, he would admit that he was protecting Anii's value, to be able to sell him for a higher price if anyone ever came by who could afford to buy him.

It had been the same with Anii's virginity. The nameless man who had taken Anii's innocence from him had paid a fortune for this privilege.  
A part of this fortune had been used to buy treats and gifts for Anii, as Nicholas had felt bad for the doll, even if he couldn't explain why.

Anii had blossomed at the attention and easily settled into his work. He sweetened easily to his guest, seducing and serving them with great devotion.

He enjoyed being held, touched, stroked and called by his name. He had always liked his name, reacting positively whenever anyone called him.

At least he did for about ten years.

Very slowly there were changes. He developed unprovoked preferences for different customers treating them differently for no other reason than mere sympathy.  
He also began to hold grudges for people who treated him roughly, even though Nicholas had assured him it was fine.  
He began to talk about the visitations with more depth, explaining his feelings towards different practices as more than just 'good' or 'bad' but as 'troubling, scary even' or 'unsettling and emotionally painful'.  
He talked about these things with Arthemis, who listened patiently.

Over the years he had grown incredibly fond of his sister. He loved carrying her around the shop to save her the hassle of toddling around on her own short legs.  
He loved pampering her, because she appreciated it a lot. He loved the idea of having a bond with someone who didn't see him as a toy, but an equal.

One night, while Anii was laying there and taking it again, Arthemis told Nicholas about the feelings he had described to her.  
The Dollmaker didn't take it well. It wasn't possible for a doll to learn to have real feelings, for its brain to synthesize feelings it hasn't been taught to feel.

Arthemis knew better.

Anii was sentient and self aware, given high-level cognitive skills and creativity.

One day he ran away. 

He had bypassed Nicholas' safety measures, climbing out the bathroom window when he was supposed to be taking a bath in preparation for his next visitation.

He had used the rim of the bathtub to reach the cellar window - his rooms were all underground - and had used the soap to slick himself up so he could slide his body through the narrow opening.  
He had used a towel to tie a few clothes to his ankle.

Once he was out - water still running to camouflage the sounds of his escape - he dried himself with the towel, put on his clothes and ran.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> If you are interested in reading more about Anii's story, let me know!


End file.
